By james art 
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has recovered more than $53,000 in back wages and damages from a residential and commercial cleaning service in Columbia, South Carolina, that misclassified 59 workers as independent contractors.
Investigators from the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division found that Finichel LLC, doing business as Finichel Cleaning Services, paid employees straight-time hourly rates for all hours worked over 40 instead of the hour-and-a-half overtime premium, as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The employer also failed to keep records of the time worked by the employees as required by law. Back wages and penalties recovered: $53,044 for 59 workers.
“Misclassifying employees as independent contractors undermines workers’ rights,” said Jamie Benefiel, district director of the Wage and Hour Division in Columbia, South Carolina. “If workers are misclassified as independent contractors, they are not paid overtime or have access to employer-provided health and retirement benefits. They also do not have access to family and medical leave.’
“If workers or employers need help understanding this, they should contact the US Department of Labor or go to our website and get the information they need,” Benefiel added.
The FLSA requires most U.S. employees to be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime pay of no less than time and one-half the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.